Mystery Science Theater 3000 is another hallmark of the 1990s. Either you have never heard of it, or you have seen pretty much every episode, and just the thought of "Manos, Hands of Fate" makes you smile. MST3K was a touchstone of geek culture in the 90s, before the internet exploded and global snark levels reached epic proportions. Back then it was just you - maybe some friends - watching TV late at night, bad movies with a man and his robot pals.

 

For five years, from 1991 to 1995, every year on Thanksgiving Comedy Central aired the "Turkey Day" marathon. This was clearly just a cynical attempt to exploit the otherwise gaping hole in their programming. Because who watches television on Thanksgiving? Losers and geeks, that's who. And what do losers and geeks want to watch? Meh, why not just give them 15 or 16 episodes of MSt3K?

The main focus of every episode was the feature length film (which was usually an old science fiction movie, and always atrocious). But the interstitial moments provided a lot of the fun, and one of the joys of the Turkey Day marathon was getting to watch all the extra bits that they produced just for the occasion. 

 

Family getting you down? Need a pick-me-up before you head out to dinner? Just looking for a way to kill a few hours on Thanksgiving morning? Dislike football? Then Turkey Day was the answer! It was like spending a little bit of time with your favorite television family on Thanksgiving. 

 

Even better was getting home from Thanksgiving dinner (or finally getting rid of your last Thanksgiving guest) and flopping down on the couch to watch some MST3K with the beverage of your choice. Watch Turkey Day long enough and it would certainly become time for a leftover sandwich!

 

By comparison, Thanksgiving in these modern days is a real let-down. I hope you remembered to return your Netflix DVDs in time, because there sure isn't anything worth watching on television. Every year as Thanksgiving approaches, I still get a pang of longing for the old Turkey Days of yore.

 

You can run your own Turkey Day, of course. Queue up a bunch of episodes on your player of choice, and get to slothin'. But it will never quite recreate the experience of being able to tune in, any time, effortlessly, and know that fans around the country are doing the same. Turkey Day was a shared geek experience that shall be forever enshrined in the 90s Geek Hall of Fame!